McCamey's skills are `deceptive'

November 09, 2006|By Neil Milbert, Tribune staff reporter.

CHAMPAIGN — Demetri McCamey is built along the lines of Deron Williams.

Illinois coach Bruce Weber hopes the 6-foot-3-inch, 205-pound point guard can bring back memories of Williams during the next four seasons. He also hopes the recruit from St. Joseph in Westchester can make Illini fans forget Eric Gordon, the guard from Indianapolis North Central who got away after making an oral commitment last fall.

Ranked No. 57 nationally among high school seniors by Rivals.com, McCamey is one of three in-state players to return national letters of intent to Illinois on Wednesday when the fall signing period began.

Weber sees similarities between McCamey and Williams, who's now with the Utah Jazz.

"The first thing that stands out about Demetri is that he has a big body for a point guard," Weber said. "Like Deron, he has the deceptive athletic ability. You wouldn't think he would just go up and dunk on somebody, but he has that ability."

NCAA rules prohibit Weber from talking specifically about Gordon and his decision to sign with Indiana. But he spoke about the disappointment it engendered and the problems it has caused.

"You have a kid recruited, you're bound to that and you can't recruit other kids," he said. "We've passed up kids who wanted to come to Illinois.

"We would like to get a scoring perimeter guy (to fill the void left by Gordon's decision). . . . We've already been as far as California and down into Texas, and in our state there are a couple of kids still out there. We'll know more by next Wednesday--who has signed, who hasn't, who's available."

While McCamey figures to make an immediate impact, Cole and Tisdale appear to be projects.

Cole comes from the same high school as Illini sophomore sharpshooter Jamar Smith, and his father, Terry Cole, was a defensive end on the 1983 Illini football team that won the Big Ten title and went to the Rose Bowl.

Tisdale didn't turn 17 until this fall but, according to Weber, "he has unbelievable skills for his size and he had some pretty impressive games against top-ranked kids in Orlando in the summer."